


Like She Could

by babyitsbeautiful



Series: Gendrya Song Fics [4]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Curator Arya, Dancing Under Red Skies, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Song by Dermot Kennedy, TNLYLIC Universe, The Stag's Head, Westerosi Museum of History, bartender gendry, gendry baratheon, pub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24309349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyitsbeautiful/pseuds/babyitsbeautiful
Summary: "Gendry spent his nights at the pub and his free time on the weekends with his sister and favorite niece. Life couldn’t get any better….That is until Catelyn Stark said a thing or two one too many times about her youngest daughter finally settling down which led Arya to a date at The Stag’s Head on a cold October night.The night that changed Gendry Baratheon’s life forever…”Set in the 'They'll Never Love You Like I Can' Universe (Highly recommended read before this one.)Title is from Dermot Kennedy's "Dancing Under Red Skies" (Recommended listen before or during.)
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Series: Gendrya Song Fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586512
Comments: 16
Kudos: 117





	Like She Could

**Author's Note:**

> For not having a proper outline of this beforehand, I think it turned out pretty good.

_When they ask you who you're living for_

_You'll drop my name, and then_

_And I found a new courage that kills cowards I've been holding in_

_It took us back to times when real men were real men_

_Let me tell you, no one ever got my soul right like she could, yeah_

_Amongst artists in heartlessness, dealing in darknesses_

_I know, I know_

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Gendry looks up from where he’s balancing out tabs and receipts from his perch at the bar top, with eyebrows raised and wide blue eyes at his sister as if she’s lost her damn mind.

It should be pretty fucking obvious what he’s doing, and he’s completely bewildered by why she’s asking him that question. Staring her down, he sees that she’s still waiting for a reply with her hands on her hips and a bar rag thrown over her shoulder, the same blue eyes blazing into him.

“Well?”

He sighs and continues his task at hand, eager to get finished before Podrick relives him in an hour, “What does it look like I’m doing, Mya? I’m working, which is what you should be doing too, not to point out the obvious.”

She rolls her eyes at her bother, not wanting to take any of his deflecting crap, “You’ve been here all day, Gendry. Isn’t tonight your big date with Arya? Shouldn’t you have left by now to get ready for it?”

He looks at his watch, the same thing he’s done every ten minutes for the past six hours, anxious for the day to be over with and for the night to begin, “I have plenty of time, Podrick should be here soon and then I can leave. Arya’s been home all day and I told her to be ready by seven and that I’d be home by six to shower and change. It’ll be fine.”

It’s almost as if Mya is more nervous about tonight’s events than Gendry is. That thought alone makes him laugh to himself and shake his head, as if anyone else could feel the same pressure he’s feeling for the night to go exactly as he’s planned for the past two months. Well four months if he’s being technical, he’s been planning this out in his head ever since Renly and Loras’ wedding last spring. He started working on her ring not long after she agreed to move in with him and this night has been in the making ever since.

With some help of course, Mya, Sansa, and Brienne have been phenomenal in assisting him with all of the details needed to make tonight the night neither of them will ever forget.

“I still think you should have left by now, doubled checked everything and what not, but don’t mind me, I’ll just be over here minding my own business.”

She goes about wiping down tables, not daring to look his way and if she did, she’d definitely taunt him for the playful smirk he’s giving her at her over dramatic ways.

Technically Davos and Thoros did give him the day off for exactly the same reasons Mya keeps mentioning to him, but he’d rather stay busy to keep from going stir crazy watching the hours tick by ever so slowly.

And with Arya being off as well, he knows that staying in the apartment with her, knowing what he knows, would have been a disaster. He wouldn’t have held his patience and would have undone all the hard work him and their family has helped him with to pull off the ultimate date night just for the two of them.

He prays silently to himself when Podrick finally arrives and wishes him luck, that tonight goes off without a hitch.

With his heart hammering inside his chest, he makes his way home, to the woman he loves and the first night of the rest of their lives together.

***

While Arya keeps herself busy doing her hair and makeup, he showers quickly and then changes into his best pair of dark jeans and white button up shirt, leaving his hair in that messy sort of way that his girlfriend, _soon to be fiancée_ loves so much.

As he’s buttoning the top buttons on his shirt, he makes his way out into the living room to see Arya ready and waiting, and his jaw drops at the mere sight of her.

Her soft brown hair is down, highlighting the curves of her face and she’s wearing a loose fitting white and green long-sleeved dress that stops at her mid-thigh showing off her toned legs with white heels to match.

“You look…” he honestly can’t find the words, but then again that’s nothing new when he comes to Arya Stark.

“Is Gendry Baratheon actually speechless right now?”

He closes his mouth, then opens it to speak again but nothing comes out because she’s absolutely right.

He steps even closer to her and lays his hands on her hips pulling her in for a quick, but sweet kiss, “You ready to go?”

She rolls her eyes, at what he assumes is his deflection of the whole speechless bit, but she says nothing else about it as they make their way out the door.

As they walk to Gendry’s truck, he sends a quick text to Brienne confirming they are on their way and asks if the final touch has been set to which she confirms it has, causing him to release a long held breath from deep within his chest.

After several minutes of driving in silence, Arya finally breaks it with a question he’s been expecting her to ask all day, “So, you never told me where we’re having dinner?”

She looks out the window and then turns back to face him from the passenger seat once more, “And by the looks of it, I assume the place is in King’s Landing?”

He smiles shyly, “Aye.”

“And I’m always assuming that’s all I’m getting out of you about it, yeah?”

He laughs this time, “Right again, love.”

They stay in comfortable silence the rest of the drive and as Gendry pulls up to the familiar building, he holds in his breath again waiting for her to say something.

“Why are we at the museum? It’s been closed for weeks for renovations.”

He couldn’t have timed this proposal any better, it’s almost as if the Gods above gave him the means and opportunity themselves.

“Aye, which is why we’re having dinner here. I know you’ve been missing your work Arya.”

They walk in and he sees what exactly he’s had pictured in his head for this exact moment, a table for two set up in the main lobby, which thankfully has been untouched and still looks exactly as it should, complete with Arya’s favorite wine and candlelight. If the rest of the evening goes this well, he owes Brienne free drinks for life.

“Gendry, this is so wonderful. But like how?”

“I had a little help from Brienne. I think she might have a soft spot for a certain curator.”

She bumps her hip playfully into his with a smirk as he holds out her chair for her to sit before sitting himself down and pouring a healthy amount of wine into each of their glasses.

“It’s really nice to be here again, working from home just doesn’t do this job justice.”

He looks at his watch and then around the room, wondering where the restaurant is with their food delivery.

“Aren’t we missing a certain key piece to dinner?” Arya laughs and he releases a nervous chuckle but before he has a chance to explain, he sees a young man enter with two bags of food that he can already begin to smell from the table.

He takes the food and gives him a generous tip as he sets everything out for them to eat, Arya thanking him over and over again for doing this wonderfully nice thing for her and the night’s not even over yet.

They eat quicker than he anticipated, but it’s not something he’s complaining about as they chat about his day at the pub and the work, she’s been able to get done on her laptop at the apartment these last few weeks.

Arya wipes her mouth with the white fabric napkin before leaning back in her chair and sighing contently, “That was so good. This was a perfect night out Gendry, thank you.”

The moment of truth.

“The night’s not over yet love.” He stands up and holds out a hand for her to take, “Come with me?”

He can’t help but to phrase it as a question, not wanting to push her into doing anything she’s uncomfortable with, but knowing Arya, she’d go anywhere with him without much fuss.

He leads them up the stairs, towards the new part of the museum that was just added on to the main structure, “Brienne says that the new wing is coming along great, thought we’d check it out. She even told me to test out some things for her, you interested?”

Arya laughs sweetly as Gendry leads her into a darkened room, the only light being the red illuminating emergency exit sign on either side.

He holds his breath as he yells at his brain to get the words out, he can’t begin to fuck up now, “She told me that they’re testing out these new motion sensor lights for the exhibits.

He positions her to stand just at the first one, “Just take a step foward and the sensor will do the rest.”

He can’t hear anything but his heart in his rib cage, the lump in his throat threatening to choke him he’s so nervous. He can feel her soft breathing and the warmth radiating from her as she takes a step forward and the light brightens the glass before them, behind it revealing two enlarged pictures of a very young Arya Stark and Gendry Baratheon.

Arya’s eyes widen as she looks through the glass and then back at him before her eyes meet the exhibit’s plaque sticking up from the ground.

She begins to read out loud and the stuttering of his heart is deafening.

_“Arya Lyanna Stark (pictured left), born April 15 th, 1995 to Eddard and Catelyn Tully-Stark. The youngest Stark she-wolf was a force of nature from the very beginning, always following in the footsteps of her older brothers and giving her parents grey hair at a young age with her firecracker spirit and endless shenanigans. _

_Gendry Maxwell Baratheon (pictured right), born June 22 nd, 1992 to Nora Waters and Robert Baratheon. With his bull-headed stubbornness, Gendry sulked whenever he could and would stir up trouble given the right opportunity driving his mother wild and even though she was sent to the old Gods before her time was truly up, she gave Gendry the best childhood a nameless kid from Flea Bottom could ever have asked for.” _

Once the last word is spoken she takes a step back, darkening the space around them once again and when she voluntarily steps to the next one, lighting it up to pictures of their preteen selves, he sees the tears shimmer in her grey eyes as she reads out loud once more.

_“In the beginning of her teenage years, Arya was often teased for her boyish looks by her peers, to which she stood taller than before and held her ground to her worst tormenters earning long over-due respect from her elders. She never dropped her head in defeat and eventually came to forgive those who wronged her as a child._

_When Gendry transitioned from trouble-maker child to angry teenager, it took a whole team to get the young bull to see reason. With a change of name, he gained a father on paper and a new father in the form of Davos Seaworth who never gave up on seeing Gendry through to his fullest potential.”_

Arya steps back and from what little light is in the room, he watches as she wipes away a few tears from her flushed cheeks. If she’s reacting like this, this early on, he can only imagine what she’ll think of the end of their little trip down memory lane.

Another step forward, another light, another held breath as Arya’s high school and college graduation pictures are lit up, along with a picture of Gendry taken by Davos of him working away on his business proposal for his metal work.

“ _When Arya finally graduated college, earning her degree in Westerosi history, her parents were over the moon for all that she’s accomplished in her life. Her mother says she’ll never forget the day when Arya told her parents that all of her dreams had come true when she got her dream job at the Westerosi Museum of History. Arya Stark continues her career as a curator in the museum to this day._

_Gendry spent most of his high school days getting into fights or in detention. It was no secret that school wasn’t his favorite part of the day, but he graduated nonetheless, earning a lot of cheering from the Seaworth family out in the audience. After years of working under his foster dad, Gendry decided to take his passion for metal work and turn it into his own business, to which he successfully runs today_.”

Arya keeps her feet on the sensor so that there will be light as she turns to Gendry, kissing him soundly and full of passion.

When their lips part, she rests her forehead against his, keeping him to her with her hand on the back of his head, “I don’t think I can wait until the end.”

He supposes she figured it out after the first exhibit but has held on just for him. Now he needs her to be patient for a little while longer, “Just a few more, for me?”

She shakes her head in agreement as she continues along, lighting the path of more recent pictures of the two of them, albeit still before they met. An adult Arya and Sansa dressed up for an evening out along-side a picture of Mya and Gendry with his new baby niece.

_“With her dream job and a life full of friends and family, Arya has never been happier. She’d spend time with her sister and their friends on a night out on the town and on Sundays she’d spend her day lounging around and catching up on sleep, one of her many hobbies._

_Shortly after beginning the plans for a new business, Gendry spent his nights at the pub and his free time on the weekends with his sister and favorite niece. Life couldn’t get any better…._

_That is until Catelyn Stark said a thing or two one too many times about her youngest daughter finally settling down which led Arya to a date at The Stag’s Head on a cold October night._

_The night that changed Gendry Baratheon’s life forever…”_

He hears her stifle in her tears and take a deep breath as the next exhibit is revealed, and then just as expected, a boisterous clap of laughter. Before them both are the three worst pictures, he could find of three of her dates during the first weeks of their friendship. Ned Dayne sporting a sunburn and a glare to the camera, courtesy of some deep internet digging from Sansa Stark, a picture of a drunk Podrick who gave him full permission to rights to said picture, and a picture of Renly and Loras during their honeymoon days _before_ the wedding.

“This is amazing!” Arya says excitedly as she holds her hand over her mouth to stifle her amusement. She manages to compose herself just enough to read the plaque.

_“Exactly One Year Ago Today, this night was just like any other, says Gendry Baratheon, except for one little sassy brunette that managed to banter her way into his heart as she waited for her first date to arrive, a date that ended just as it should with both patrons going their separate ways. While Ned Dayne was decidedly not the worst of her dates, he certainly didn’t earn or ever deserve the likes of Arya Stark’s romantic interests._

_Her second date, did however, turn out much better as she and Podrick Payne remain friends to this day._

_Her fourth date, Loras Tyrell, was ultimately the biggest fail as her sister decided to crash said date and with a little help, and matchmaking, from Gendry, it was revealed that Loras does in fact bat for the other team and had full interest in his uncle Renly Baratheon whom he married just six and half months later.”_

Another step to her left and some of the best pictures thus far, in Gendry’s opinion are revealed. Some Arya might have seen, and one she definitely has not seen.

This particular exhibit shows the first time Arya and Gendry met outside of the pub, the night of the Fall Festival they each attended with their sisters and nieces.

Before them are three pictures, one of each of them with their family members at the festival and one in the middle of a candid of Arya and Gendry walking and talking and laughing together that was taken by her sister, Sansa in secret.

“Who took that?” Arya voices aloud at the picture of the two of them together, the first one ever to exist.

“Sansa took it while we weren’t looking.” He says nervously, waiting for her to continue through the end.

“I love it, and you.” She gives him a teary wink as she reads the next words waiting for her.

_“The night of the King’s Landing Fall Festival was the first step into a friendship and relationship for Gendry and Arya. With a little devious planning from Mya Stone, and Sansa and Talisa Stark, the two ended up spending most of the night alone together, laughing and having fun getting to know the other better than ever before._

_Arya even learned of Gendry’s fear of heights, a fear not many people have ever learned about the stubborn Baratheon._

_This particular night led to new-found feelings and a shift in the atmosphere around the two. The next time they would meet would result in a mis-understanding that would lead to their first kiss and a confession of unconditional feelings that were mutually reciprocated.”_

Arya brightens the next exhibit showing the picture she sent to her sister the night of their first date, a picture of Mya and Gendry picking out his suit while shopping and a picture of the treehouse dinner that Hot Pie set up for them.

_“A first date that will go down in history. With the help of one of Gendry’s best mates, he took Arya to a candlelit dinner in a treehouse over-looking the bay, but things turned sour as they realized that they weren’t exactly supposed to be on that particular piece of property owned by a very feisty old man._

_With a quick escape they made their way downtown and enjoyed ice cream and more time spent in the presence of the other. It was a night neither of them would ever forget, for many amazing reasons.”_

Arya wipes away more tears with the back of her hand, careful of smearing her makeup, “What? You didn’t want to include the part where I jumped you as soon as I could?”

“Only three left, love. I promise you can jump me after that if you’d like.” He smiles smugly at her in an effort to hide his ever-growing anxiety.

The next set of pictures include several taken throughout the first six months of dating, followed by a picture of them at Renly and Loras’ wedding and a picture of the key he gifted her when he asked her to move in with him.

_“Like all relationships, steps are needed to take the couple even further than before. So while Gendry knew he never wanted to part from Arya, he made the big gesture at his Uncle’s wedding and asked Arya to move in with him, to which was no one’s surprise that she said yes excitedly and in true Arya fashion.”_

He holds his breath once more as he waits for her reaction to the next display, a single picture of a thunderstorm over the water in Storm’s End where they reside.

She turns to him with a confused expression laced across her delicate face, to which he only motions for her to read the words in front of her.

_“And like all relationships, fights are had, and feelings are tested. On a warm Tuesday night, only two short months after moving in together, Arya and Gendry experienced their first real fight as a couple, the reason is mute, but the repercussions were almost too much for either of them to handle._

_Gendry, being the stubborn bull, he is stormed off with his signature Baratheon fury, leaving Arya alone in the apartment with the quiet overwhelming her._

_But while the two said things they both didn’t mean, they soon realized that fighting and arguing was stupid and that they needed each other more than anything else. Gendry raced back to the apartment while Arya chased him outside, meeting in the middle in a raging storm only a city like Storm’s End could give._

_Apologizes were made, feelings were said, and they made a promise to never let anything come between them again._

_Gendry vowed to never let her go, and he never will for as long as they both shall live…”_

They both know the moment she steps foot over the last motion sensor, there’s no going back. The final piece to complete this part of their love story.

As soon as Arya’s leg begins to move, Gendry takes a step back, imperative to this part of his plan as the dark around them becomes too much, the light giving away the darkness to an empty room, save for a small closed, black box in the middle.

He hears Arya’s sharp intake of breath before she reads the only two words on the pedestal, _“Turn Around.”_

He’s made it to where this sensor stays lit up, giving them the light, they need for this moment to be perfect.

Gendry watches as her shoulders straighten and she slowly turns around to where he’s on one knee holding her engagement ring with a steady hand, all nerves gone as soon as he sees the certainty and devotion radiating in her teary grey eyes.

Her ring took every bit of over three months to complete. It’s something he feels is Arya in metal form, two swords encircling each other to wrap around a single diamond in the middle with small leaves twirling around the ends of the swords.

“Yes!” She yells before he even says anything to which he replies, “I haven’t even asked yet, love.”

The smile she gives him is blinding, but he still manages the words he’s rehearsed over and over in his head, “Arya Stark, you are the most brilliant and amazing woman I have ever met. You always makes me laugh even though most of the time you are teasing me but I don’t care, you can mock me all you want as long as I always get to hear that beautiful laugh of yours. When you ordered that first glass of wine at the pub, I didn’t know how important that would be to me and that I’d never want to stop. So, Arya, will you let me serve you your favorite red wine whenever you want for the rest of your life? Will you marry me?”

“YES!” She says with more enthusiasm this time. He slides the ring on her finger and before he can even raise up from where he’s kneeling, she’s wrapping her arms around his neck and falling to the floor with him, crashing her lips against his on a newly carpeted museum floor.

They can’t help but to laugh as they both stand on two feet, keeping each other close in a warm embrace as Arya examines her ring closely, “This is so beautiful Gendry, you made it didn’t you?”

“Aye.” He gives her a quick kiss on her lips, his own tear falling from the overwhelming love his body doesn’t know what to do with.

“I love you so much,” she says as she leans her forehead against his, breathing him and the moment in with all that she has.

“I love you too.” He manages to choke out between heavy breaths of emotion.

Arya pulls back and nearly screams, “I have to call Sansa!”

Gendry laughs and tells her to hold off on that for just a moment as he walks over to the last podium and pulls out an envelope taped underneath, “I believe this is for you, from the one and only Sansa Stark.”

She narrows her eyes in a suspicious, yet playful way at him as she opens the envelope and reads the invitation out loud.

_“You are officially invited to celebrate the engagement of Arya Lyanna Stark and Gendry Maxwell Baratheon at the Stark Manor, Saturday October 24 th at 7:30 PM. No need to RSVP for the Bride-To-Be."_

**Author's Note:**

> I gave Gendry, Joe Dempsie's real life middle name and both him and Maisie's real birthdays, minus the year.


End file.
